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Illinois Basketball: Most underrated Illini recruits in the rankings era

By Rees Woodcock

BLOOMINGTON, INDIANA - FEBRUARY 05: Trent Frazier #1 of the Illinois Fighting Illini against the Indiana Hoosiers at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on February 05, 2022 in Bloomington, Indiana. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
BLOOMINGTON, INDIANA - FEBRUARY 05: Trent Frazier #1 of the Illinois Fighting Illini against the Indiana Hoosiers at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on February 05, 2022 in Bloomington, Indiana. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /
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INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA – MARCH 14: Giorgi Bezhanishvili #15 of the Illinois Fighting Illini reacts after a play in the game against the Ohio State Buckeyes during the second half of the Big Ten Basketball Tournament championship at Lucas Oil Stadium on March 14, 2021 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA – MARCH 14: Giorgi Bezhanishvili #15 of the Illinois Fighting Illini reacts after a play in the game against the Ohio State Buckeyes during the second half of the Big Ten Basketball Tournament championship at Lucas Oil Stadium on March 14, 2021 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images) /

5. Giorgi Bezhanishvili

  • 3-Star Recruit
  • #366 in the class of 2018
  • 1 NCAA tournament – 2nd round
  • Best season – 12.5 points, 5.2 rebounds

Brad Underwood needed to fill out the roster after struggling in the first season in Champaign. One of the players he snagged that no one had really heard of was Giorgi Bezhanishvili.

When you get a player who is ranked lower than No. 250 in a recruiting class, you usually expect them to not play much during their career. That wasn’t the case with Giorgi, though. Coming out of St. Patrick High School in New Jersey, Giorgi was a three-star recruit who was ranked as the No. 366 player in the class of 2018. He was also the No. 63 power forward in the country and the No. 13 player coming out of New Jersey.

Girogi picked Illinois, and he was an instant success. His first season with the program was his best, as he averaged 12.5 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. Illinois would start loading up on talent after his freshman season. A player named Kofi Cockburn entered the picture, and this took away a lot of Giorgi’s time with the ball.

Illinois did see success with Giorgi on the court. After that rough first season when the Illini only won 12 games, the program would have made the NCAA tournament in 2019-20 if it wasn’t for COVID-19. Illinois managed to go dancing the following season, as the program would advance to the second round.

I don’t expect a player who is ranked sub-250 to contribute minutes, let alone someone ranked sub-350. Giorgi shocked the world when he became a big part of this program.

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